1. Field
The present disclosure relates to apparatus and methods related to ethanol production, and, more particularly, to the apparatus and methods for the drying of stillage produced by the ethanol production process.
2. Background of the Related Art
The saccharification of polysaccharides derived from starch contained within grains such as corn, wheat, rye, sorghum, and rice has long been recognized as a potential source of mixed sugars for ethanol production by fermentation. The starch in the grain is converted to fermentable sugar which, in turn, is fermented into ethanol. The ethanol is captured from non-fermented and/or non-fermentable materials and solvent(s) such as water and the remainder sans ethanol is emitted as stillage.
The stillage may be considered a co-product of the ethanol production, and the stillage may be further fractionated into various stillage fractions. If the stillage and/or stillage fractions could be dried to form dried co-products, the dried co-products may have nutritive value and may have other utility. Accordingly, a need exists for drying technologies for use in conjunction with ethanol production to dry the stillage and/or stillage fractions into dried co-products.